Tallahassee rallies against gun violence and white supremacy

Tallahassee, FL- On Sunday, April 20, over 100 students and community members rallied at the Florida State Capitol building to stand against gun violence and white supremacist ideology. This rally comes mere days after Phoenix Ikner, a 20-year-old student at Florida State University who had reportedly espoused racist and white supremacist beliefs, killed Tiru Chabba and Robert Morales and injured six others in a mass shooting at FSU.

“Say their names! Robert Morales and Tiru Chabba,” protesters chanted as they honored the names of the two killed by Ikner on Thursday. Robert Morales, an FSU alumnus and employee, was honored by his brother in a statement on X, “You deserved better, Robert. Thank you for being in my life.” Tiru Chabba was a father of two and is deeply loved and remembered by his family as a dedicated father and husband.

Following the shooting, a great deal of misinformation spread online before the white supremacist beliefs of Ikner were shared with the public.

Oliver Cheese, a member of Tallahassee Students for a Democratic Society, discussed the virulent white supremacist beliefs of the shooter, saying that people online “took an image of me at a Tally SDS protest claiming that I am Phoenix Ikner.” Cheese continued, “He was a white supremacist, a neo nazi, an open racist hate monger.” Oliver Cheese also demanded action from FSU admin, stating, “Tally SDS is demanding that FSU kick racists off our campus and that they stand for immigrant students against this white supremacist system.”

After the shooting, many who knew Ikner reported to news outlets that he had expressed many white supremacist beliefs. Former classmates at Tallahassee State College stated that Ikner had been removed from a political discourse club for “white supremacist rhetoric and far-right rhetoric.”

Lain Dorsey called out FSU admin’s platforming of speakers who have expressed bigoted beliefs, stating, “FSU admin continually allows white supremacists like Ben Shapiro and Charlie Kirk to come to our campus and spread lies and hate about black people, about trans people, about women, about immigrants” Dorsey continued, adding that Ikner “was a fan of Charlie Kirk, he came to an SDS protest and mocked us.”

Thomas Speirs, a member of the Tallahassee Community Action Committee, expressed anger at how Ikner was allowed to be a member of the Leon County Sheriff’s Youth Advisory Council despite his white supremacist beliefs, saying, “They don’t know that this guy is a white supremacist? All of his classmates knew, not only just in college but in high school. There’s no way his mother didn’t know and yet he was still on that council.”

Despite the immense tragedy that had struck Tallahassee, students and community members were driven to end gun violence and the platforming of white supremacist groups and speakers at FSU. “It is our duty to fight for our freedom! It is our duty to win! We have nothing to lose but our chains!” the crowd chanted as the rally came to an end.

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